Pubdate: Fri, 22 Dec 2017
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)
Copyright: 2017 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Contact: P.O. Box 1909, Seattle, WA 98111-1909
Website: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/408
Author: Craig Giammona, Bloomberg
JACK IN THE BOX TESTS MUNCHIE MEALS FOR CALIFORNIA POT SMOKERS
For Jack in the Box Inc., the warm smell of marijuana is rising in the
air.
As California prepares for legal recreational pot on Jan. 1, the
fast-food chain is partnering with a digital media company backed by
rapper Snoop Dogg on a new "munchie" meal aimed at cannabis
enthusiasts. While marijuana's connection to fast food is
well-established, Jack in the Box will become the first national chain
to explicitly embrace the drug.
The "Merry Munchie Meal," which will be available at three California
locations for a week in January for $4.20, features two tacos, french
fries, onion rings, five mini churros, three chicken strips and a
small drink. The price isn't random: The number 420 is used as a code
by potheads.
Jack in the Box, with more than 2,200 restaurants, has struggled amid
intense competition from a resurgent McDonald's and its chief burger
rivals, Burger King and Wendy's. Earlier this month, the San
Diego-based company agreed to sell its Qdoba chain to the private
equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC.
Cannabis was sold in California pharmacies until the '30s, when
racism-tinged laws banned it under its Mexican street name,
"marijuana".
Californians like the ones at this peace rally in San Francisco first
attempted to re-legalize cannabis at the ballot box in the '70s,
kicking off decades of failed efforts.
In 1996, California voters legalized medical marijuana, kicking off
two decades of national change.
In 2004, SB 420 expanded medical marijuana defenses beyond patients
and caregivers to groups of them, paving the way for storefront
dispensaries, as shown.
Medical pot seemed legal at the beginning of President Obama's tenure,
but by 2010 he had unleashed a crackdown far greater than under George
W. Bush.
The Drug Policy Alliance attorney Tamar Todd holds a Magic 8-Ball at a
legalization conference in 2013. The DPA joined the ACLU, and other
groups in a 2016 bid for legalization.
Voters approved Prop 64 on Nov. 8, 2016, effectively legalizing the
recreational use of marijuana in California.
The "Merry Munchie Meal," which will be available at three California
locations for a week in January for $4.20.
Legal weed may be just the thing to help regain some buzz.
"We are about welcoming all of our guests, no matter what they're
craving or why they're craving it," said Iwona Alter, the chain's
chief marketing officer.
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MAP posted-by: Matt